Take me by the hand through the streets of your city;
my days, your pigeons…
Ilya Kaminsky from ‘Dancing in Odessa’About Anxious Journey
Anxious Journey is more of a style than a project. It is mainly travel or journey based photography that has been influenced by the pre 1919 metaphysical art style (Italian: pittura metafisica) developed by the Italian painter Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978).
The Mystery and Melancholy…
My interest in de Chirico’s work covers the period from 1910 until about 1930 – and includes works such as; Mystery and Melancholy of a Street, The Melancholy of Departure, The Enigma of an Autumn Afternoon and, the theme for this series, ‘The Anxious Journey’.
Other influences for the style include the work of the poet John Ashbery who, coincidentally, translated de Chirico’s 1929 novel ‘Hebdomeros’.
“I would say this landscape
Too is a document. But
What is a landscape? A procession
Across the soul that thinks
It’s entering something?“
From ‘The Foggiest’ by John Ashbery
Main image: A rusty railway station fingerpost sign in Tenby
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All images © W N BISHOP